The importance of namâz
Namâz and kufr
The virtues in namâz
Those who steal from their own namâz
The five daily namâzes
The fards of the namâz
What amount of najâsat prevents the performance of namâz?
What is the meaning of awrat parts?
Istiqbâl-i qibla
Prayer (namâz) times
The times at which it is makrûh to perform namâz
Adhân and iqâmat
Making niyyat [intention] for the namâz
The fards that are inside the namâz (rukns)
How do we perform namâz?
The namâzes of women
Things that nullify namâz
The wâjibs of namâz
The sunnats of the namâz
The mustahabs of the namâz

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The importance of namâz

Since Âdam (alaihissalâm), there was namâz [ritual prayer] once a day in every religion. All that had been performed were brought together and were made fard [commanded] for us. Although performing namâz is not a pillar of îmân [belief], it is a pillar of îmân to believe that namâz is fard. “Namâz” means “duâ.” The ‘ibâdat that is commanded by the Sharî’at and which we all know was named “namâ.” Performing the five daily prayers of namâz is fard-i ’ayn for every Muslim who has reached the age of puberty. That it is fard is openly stated in the Qur’ân and hadîths. Five daily prayers of namâz became a commandment on the Mi’râj night. The Mi’râj happened on the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab a year before the Hegira. Before the Mi’râj, only the morning and afternoon prayers were performed. A child must be ordered to perform namâz at the age of seven and should be beaten if it does not perform it at the age of ten. It is also necessary to teach other ibâdats to children at this age, to accustom them to doing them, and to prevent them from sins.

For the purpose of showing the importance of fard namâz, Muhammad Rabhâmî (rahmatullahi alaih) wrote the Persian book Riyâd-un-nâsihîn, a collection from four hundred and forty-four books, in India in 853 A.H., in the twelfth chapter of the first section of the second part of which he said:

“In the two fundamental books of Islam called Sahîhayn [Bukhârî and Muslim], Rasûlullah (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) asked in a hadîth-i sherîf reported by Jâbir bin ‘Abdullah (radiy-Allahu ’anh): “If there were a river in front of one’s house and if he washed himself in this river five times every day, would there be any dirt left on him?” We [Jâbir ibn ‘Abdullah and other Sahâbîs present there] said, “No, O Rasûlallah.” The Prophet said, “Likewise, minor sins of those who perform the five daily prayers are forgiven.” [Some ignorant people, upon hearing this hadîth, say, “Then, I will both perform namâz and amuse myself as I wish. My sins will be forgiven anyhow.” This thought is not correct because a namâz that is performed observing its conditions and âdâb and is accepted will cancel sins. In fact, even if minor sins are forgiven, continuing to commit or insisting on minor sins will become grave sins. And insisting on committing grave sins will cause kufr (disbelief.)]

Ibn Jawzî wrote in Tafsîr-i-Mugnî: “Abû Bakr-i Siddîq (radiy-Allahu ’anh) said that, when the time of a daily prayer of namâz comes, angels say, ‘O the sons of Âdam, stand up! Extinguish the fire prepared to burn human beings by performing namâz.’” In a hadîth-i sherîf, it was said, “The difference between the Believer and the unbeliever is namâz,” that is, the Believer performs namâz, and the unbeliever does not. Munâfiqs, however, sometimes perform it and sometimes do not. Munâfiqs will undergo very bitter torment in Hell. ‘Abdullah ibn Abbâs (radiy-Allahu ’anh), the leader of mufassirs, said that he heard Rasûlullah say, “Those who do not perform namâz will find Allahu ta’âlâ angry on the Day of Resurrection.”

The imâms of hadîth unanimously said, “People who do not perform a namâz in its due time intentionally, that is, if they are not sorry for not performing a namâz while its due time is ending, will become kâfirs or will lose their îmân during their death. What will become of those who do not remember namâz or see namâz as a duty?” The Ahl as-Sunnat savants unanimously said, “Ibâdât are not a part of îmân.” But there was not a unanimity concerning namâz. The fiqh imâms, Imâm Ahmed Ibn Hanbel, Is’hâq ibn Rahawayh, ‘Abdullah ibn Mubârak, Ibrâhîm Nahâî, Hakem ibn Hutayba, Ayyûb Sahtiyânî, Dâwûd Tâî, Abû Bakr ibn Shayba and Zubeyr ibn Harb and many other great savants, said that one who does not perform a namâz intentionally becomes a kâfir. Then, O Muslim Brother, do not miss any namâz and do not be slack; perform it with love! If Allahu ta’âlâ punishes according to the ijtihâd of these savants on the Day of Judgement, what will you do?

Tafsîr-i Mugnî says, “One of the superiors asked the devil what he should do to become damned like him. The devil was pleased and said, ‘If you want to be like me, do not pay attention to namâz and take an oath on everything right or wrong, that is take an oath very much!’ That person said, ‘I will never neglect namâz and will not take any oath from now on. ’” In the Hanbalî Madhhab, a Muslim who does not perform a namâz without an excuse will be put to death like a murtad [renegade], and his corpse will not be washed or shrouded, nor will his janâza namâz be performed. He will not be buried in Muslims’ cemetery, and his grave will not be made distinguishable. He will be put in a hollow on the mountain. In the Shâfi’î Madhhab, one who persists in not performing namâz does not become a murtad, but the punishment will be death. That the Mâlikî Madhhab is the same as the Shâfi’î in this respect is written in Ibni ’Âbidîn and on the sixty-third page of the translation of Milal-nihâl. And in the Hanafî Madhhab, he is imprisoned until he begins namâz or beaten until bleeding. [However, he who attaches no importance to namâz or who does not know it as a duty will be a kâfir in all the four madhhabs. It is written in the subject of the afflictions incurred by the tongue in Al-hadîqa that he becomes a kâfir according to the Hanafî Madhhab, too, if he neglects namâz intentionally and does not think of performing its qadâ and does not fear that he will be tormented for this.] Allahu ta’âlâ did not order non-Muslims to perform namâz or to fast. They are not honored with the commandments of Allahu ta’âlâ. They are not punished for not performing namâz or for not fasting. They only deserve Hell, which is the punishment for kufr.

In the book Zâd-ul-muqwîn, it is said: “Early savants wrote that those who do not do five things are deprived of five things:
1- They who do not give the zakât of their property do not get any benefit from their property.
2- In the land and earning of people who do not give their ’ushr, there is no abundance left.
3- Health is absent in the body of a person who does not give alms.
4- People who do not pray will not attain to their wishes.
5- People who do not want to perform a namâz when its
time comes cannot say the Kalima-i shahâdat at their last breath. A person who does not perform namâz because of laziness although he believes that it is the first duty, is a fâsiq. He is not the peer of a sâliha [pious] girl, that is, he does not deserve and is not suitable for her.” As it is seen, not performing the fard namâz causes one to die without îmân. Continuing to perform namâz causes the enlightenment of the heart and the attainment of endless bliss. Our Prophet (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) declared, “Namâz is nûr,” that is, it brightens the heart in the world and illuminates the Sirât in the next world.” (Riyâd-un-nâsihîn)

A hadîth-i sherîf, quoted in the book Qurratul’uyûn,
declares, “If a person does not perform namâz though he has no good excuse, Allahu ta’âlâ will give him fifteen kinds of plague. Six of them will come in the world, three will come at the time of death, three will come in the grave, and three will come when rising from the grave. The six plagues in the world are:

1- A person who does not perform namâz will not have barakat in his lifetime.
2- He will not have the beauty, the lovableness peculiar to those who are loved by Allahu ta’âlâ.
3- He will not be given thawâb for any good he does.
4- His prayers (duâs) will not be accepted.
5- No one will like him.
6- Blessings that (other) Muslims invoked on him will do him no good.

Kinds of torment he will suffer when dying are:
1- He will expire in an abhorrent, unsightly, repugnant manner.
2- He will die hungry.
3- Much water as he may have, he will die with painful
thirst.

Kinds of torment he will suffer in the grave are:
1- The grave will squeeze him. His bones will intertwine.
2- His grave will be filled with fire, which will scorch him day and night.
3- Allahu ta’âlâ will send a huge serpent to his grave. It is not like terrestrial serpents. It will sting him at every prayer time each day. It will never leave him alone any moment.

Kinds of torment he will suffer after rising are:
1- Angels of torment that will drag him to Hell will never leave him alone.
2- Allahu ta’âlâ will meet him with wrath.
3- His account will be settled in a very vehement manner, and he will be flung into Hell.”

[COLOR="deepskyblue"]Namâz and kufr

Namâz is the most important of the arch-stones of Islam. Allahu ta’âlâ made namâz fard so that His slaves would worship Him only. The hundred and third âyat of Sûrat-un-Nisâ’ purports that namâz became fard, the times of which are definite, for the Believers. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “Allahu ta’âlâ has made it fard to perform namâz five times every day. Allahu ta’âlâ has promised that He will send to Paradise a person who performs namâz five times every day esteeming it highly and observing its conditions.” Namâz is the most valuable of worships. A hadîth declares, “He who does not perform namâz has no share from Islam!” A hadîth-i sherîf quoted in Mishkât, and in Kunûz-ud-daqâiq, and in Sahîhayn, and in Halabî declares, “Difference between man and disbelief is to give up namâz!” It does not mean, “Men and disbelief are two separate beings. Between them lies not to perform namâz. When not to perform namâz goes away from between them, that is, when a person performs namâz, the connection between him and disbelief goes up, the two cannot be united, and man will not be a disbeliever.” But it means, “Disbelief is a property. It does not exist alone. It exists with some people. People who have disbelief have not performing namâz.But people who do not have disbelief do not have not performing namâz. Difference between a person who has disbelief and one who does not have disbelief is not performing or performing namâz.”